By Peter Atencio
COACH Allen Stajcic believes that the Philippine national women’s football team did better and were in control for much of their game against Hong Kong, allowing the Filipinas to pull through.
Stajcic said this after the Philippine national women’s football team earned a ticket to the second round of the 2024 AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament on Tuesday evening at the Hisor Central Stadium.
“I thought we played very well. We controlled the game well. It’s probably the best control we had this week here against good opposition,” said Stajcic in post-game statement, following their 4-0 triumph over Hong Kong, and their three-game sweep of Group E.
Stajcic recalled that it was the second time that they beat Hong Kong in 15 months.
The last time they did was a 2-1 win during the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualification in Uzbekistan.
“This shows how much we have improved. Ultimately, many parts of our game were very good. But our finishing has to better in games against the big nations of Asia,” added Stajcic.
Stajcic later recalled his first job as a head coach for Hong Kong.
Back in 2007, Stajcic relished the time when he coached Hong Kong in its Olympic qualifying matches.
The Filipinas got a big lift from Sarina Bolden, who struck early with two goals,
“I’m really pleased that we won, I’m really pleased that we got through, I’m really pleased that we performed well as a group and as I said, we can do a little bit better is execution in the penalty box,” said Stajcic, who noted that their encounter was his 100th game as a coach.
The Filipinas finished Group E with a three-game sweep, with 16 points to their credit, and without conceding a goal.
A total of 12 teams will reach the second round, to be split into three groups of four.
The top team of each group and the best second-placer will move into the third round.
The Philippines, along with Iran, Uzbekistan, and Taipei will be in the second round with early qualifiers India, Thailand and Vietnam.